PORTLAND, Maine — During the summers Susan Daignault spent on Cape Cod when she was growing up, fishing wasn’t something she did on her own. It was a family affair, one that pulled in both parents and all four children.
“We caught fish along the beaches using rod and reel and sold our catches for money. And we were crazy for it,” she wrote. “It was hard work fishing into the night while playing hard all day…It was in my blood and bones and now I want to fish whenever I can.”
Half a century later, Daignault is still crazy for it, as she makes clear in her new memoir, “A Full Net – Fishing Stories from Maine and Beyond.” Retired after a career that took her from the Coast Guard to Bath Iron Works, she lives on the ocean in Harpswell, fishes year-round, and has traveled the world from Alaska to Australia, always with gear in hand, with an eye toward the lakes, rivers, and the seas.
Once, while in Louisiana with her twin sister, Daignault hired a guide who before the day was half over was astonished by their skill and irrepressible enthusiasm.
“I’ve never seen girls fish like you two,” he said.
After a lifetime on the water, fishing has taught her hope. With every cast, she truly believes she’s going to catch a fish.
“If I carried that level of optimism to other areas of life,” she noted dryly, “I’d be in perfect emotional condition at all times.”